§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for the balance between the number of large and the number of small independent Channel 3 television companies; what proposals he has regarding the ownership of contiguous franchises; what consultations have taken place recently with the interests involved; when such consultations were initiated; and when they are expected to be concluded.
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§ Mr. Peter LloydMy right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department announced proposals for the content of the supplementary ownership rules to be made under powers in the Broadcasting Act 1990 in reply to a question from my hon. Friend the Member for Pembroke (Mr. Bennett) on 4 December at columns85–87. The draft order, which is subject to affirmative resolution by both Houses of Parliament, will be laid as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policy he announced during the 1989–90 Session of Parliament during proceedings on the Broadcasting Bill in respect of the ownership of contiguous Channel 3 franchises; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Peter LloydMinisters indicated during the passage of the Broadcasting Bill that they envisaged that no one person should be allowed to own two large Channel 3 franchises, or two franchises for contiguous areas, except in circumstances where one area had become non-viable and only the adjacent licensee was prepared to take over the area in question. But this was in the context of the underlying policy objectives that the separate regional identities of individual Channel 3 licence areas should be preserved, and that regional programming obligations should be fully discharged. In the light of the strengthening of the regional requirements in the Bill, and of our decision to designate nine of the 15 licence areas as "large" for these purposes, we concluded that it was no longer necessary to provide for an additional restriction on ownership to contiguous licences.